Trans Women Are Women: Rights, Justice, and the Promise of International Women's Day 2026

This International Women's Day, the United Nations calls the world to action under the theme: "For ALL Women and Girls — Rights. Equality. Empowerment." The phrasing is deliberate. "All" means exactly that. It is a powerful and unequivocal reminder that the fight for gender justice cannot be selective. And yet, around the world, a deeply troubling pattern persists: the exclusion of trans women from feminist movements, from legal protections, and from the very definition of womanhood.

As we mark International Women's Day 2026, we must confront an uncomfortable truth. The promise of rights, equality, and empowerment remains incomplete — not just for cisgender women, but profoundly so for trans women, who face compounded discrimination at the intersection of gender identity, misogyny, and transphobia.

Across the globe, trans women are routinely denied the recognition and protection that should be afforded to all women. In many countries, they cannot update their legal gender markers. They face disproportionate rates of violence, unemployment, housing discrimination, and barriers to healthcare. According to human rights organizations, 2025 was one of the deadliest years on record for trans and gender-diverse people, with the majority of victims being trans women of colour.

In some nations, political rhetoric has weaponized trans identities, framing them as a threat to cisgender women's rights. This manufactured conflict distracts from the real issues — patriarchy, structural violence, and economic inequality — that harm all women. It is a dangerous and divisive narrative that ultimately weakens the feminist movement.

To exclude trans women from the category "women" is to misunderstand both biology and identity. Being a woman is not a singular experience defined by anatomy alone. It is also shaped by lived experience, social reality, and self-identification. When we say "trans women are women," we are not erasing biology. We are expanding our understanding of womanhood to include the full diversity of human experience.

And when we exclude trans women from the feminist fold, we betray the very principle that feminism claims to uphold: the liberation of all people from gender-based oppression. A feminism that fights for some women but not all is not feminism. It is privilege dressed in progress.

The exclusion of trans women from feminist spaces is not a new phenomenon. But in 2026, it is indefensible. We have the research, the testimony, and the lived experience to know that trans women face misogyny in its most brutal forms. They are denied jobs, housing, healthcare, and safety — not in spite of being women, but because they are women. Their struggle for dignity is inseparable from the broader struggle for gender justice.

In Singapore, where I live and work, trans women continue to navigate a system that offers limited legal recognition and insufficient protections. While there have been incremental advances in social awareness and corporate inclusion policies, the legal framework remains slow to catch up. Many trans women in Singapore face discrimination in employment and healthcare and struggle for their identities to be legally affirmed. It is a stark reminder that even in progressive urban centres, the fight for trans inclusion is far from over.

International Women's Day 2026 must be more than a celebration. It must be a reckoning. A moment to ask ourselves: who are we leaving behind? Whose voices are we silencing? And are we willing to do the uncomfortable work of building a truly inclusive movement?

Rights are not a finite resource. Recognizing trans women's rights does not diminish cisgender women's rights. Equality is not a competition — it is a promise. When we exclude trans women, we weaken the fabric of feminism for everyone. When we include them, we strengthen the movement and honor the true meaning of sisterhood.

I call on feminist organizations, governments, corporations, and individuals to take concrete action beyond words. This means advocating for legal gender recognition, protecting trans women from violence and discrimination, ensuring access to healthcare and employment free from prejudice, and listening to trans women — elevating their voices and leadership in feminist spaces. Representation matters, but it is only the beginning. What we need is structural change.

To my cisgender sisters in the movement: I invite you to reflect. Feminism has always been at its most powerful when it has been willing to expand its understanding of who deserves liberation. From the exclusion of women of colour to the marginalization of lesbian voices, the movement has had to confront its own blind spots before. This is another such moment.

International Women's Day 2026 cannot simply be a day of celebration for those who already enjoy rights and privilege. It must be a day of solidarity — with trans women in the Global South, with Black and Brown trans women, with those who face the harshest conditions at the margins of society.

Trans women are women. Their rights are human rights. And on this 8th of March, that truth must be spoken clearly, loudly, without qualification, and without compromise. No one is free until everyone is free. And every woman — every single one — deserves to be included, protected, and celebrated.